Vegetarian Lentil Soup *GF/DF*

In January, I had the pleasure of visiting a friend and her family who had recently moved to the San Bernardino National Forest. She and I were headed to a regional training the day after. The night I arrived, it was windy and cold. Thankfully no snow because I don't own any snow chains and the climb to the top of the mountain was steep and long! The weather held off until the day after our meeting... whew!

The night I arrived, she was making a lentil soup. It tasted great! It was a hearty soup for a cold night. YUM!

Recently, I thought about making some lentil soup. First, I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of lentils and many beans because of their texture, and because of this, I made sure to thoroughly rinse the lentils before and after cooking and before incorporating them into the final dish. 

Without further adieu, here is the recipe! The recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free but not grain free, due to the lentils (legumes / grains) and the optional rice.


Ingredients:
1 pound of lentils, rinsed thoroughly
2 cups of veggie broth (DIY here) + 1 cup water (add if you want more broth)
5 yellow organic potatoes, diced
2 tbs EVOO (or use some broth)
1 large shallot, diced
2 tbs minced garlic (or 3 cloves finally diced)
2-3 small bok choy (stems sliced, greens chopped; bottoms removed)
1 large red or orange bell pepper, diced (seeds and tops removed)
2 tsp turmeric (may stain cookware and counter tops); like this
2 tsp adobo; like this
2 tsp sea salt 

Optional: Leftover quinoa or rice. I used 1 cup of cooked organic quinoa and whole grain rice. 

Preparation:

1. After thoroughly rinsing lentils, cook according to package in a medium pot. 

2. While lentils are cooking, prepare potatoes. Dice them into roughly the same size. Though I used 5 potatoes, I will use more next time. Try doubling the amount if you like potatoes in your soup.

3. In a deep pot (I'd like to update my cookware to this), add the 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (or broth) and cook on medium heat. 

4. Toss the diced potatoes with the oil (or broth) and cook on medium for 5-8 minutes. When they're almost done, add the turmeric. 

5. While potatoes are cooking, dice the shallot and prepare the bok choy. 

6. After potatoes are slightly softened (stick a fork in one) add the diced shallots and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the adobo seasoning. 

7. Add the minced garlic and give it a good stir. Cook for 2 minutes.

8. Add the sliced stems of the bok choy (the white parts) and cook for 3 minutes. 

9. While potatoes, shallots, garlic, and bok choy stems are cooking, dice the bell peppers (remove tops and seeds). 

10. Toss the bell peppers in and cook for a couple minutes. 

11. Add the vegetable broth. Wait until the end to add the 1 cup of water - you can decide if you'd like it more brothy or thick. 

12. Lentils should be done by now. Drain and rinse again - thoroughly. Add them to the soup base. Season the soup with the salt. 

13. Cook on medium for 10 minutes before adding the optional cooked rice/ quinoa. 

14. When soup is nearly done, you'll add the green tops of the bok choy and if it's too thick, you'll add up to the 1 cup of water. Stir. Lower the heat. Cover. 

15. Serve with bread of your choice or alone. Top with a pinch of sea salt. 

16. Enjoy! 

Yields: Approximately 5 cups of soup.